ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
PIB Headquarters
Office of the Welfare & Cess Commissioner Central –to be functioned from Chennai
It is for the information of all concerned that the Office of the Welfare & Cess Commissioner , Labour Welfare Organisation , Govt. of India, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Tirunelveli hitherto functioning at Door No.8/2A, St.Thomas Road, High Ground, Tirunelveli-627 011, Tamil Nadu shall henceforth be functioning with effect from 30th December, 2019 at:-
“Ground Floor, SIDCO Administrative Office Building at Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai-600 032, Tamil Nadu”
Further, the Office of the Asst. Welfare Commissioner , hitherto functioning at the Office of the Welfare & Cess Commissioner , Tirunelveli henceforth be functioning with effect from 30th December, 2019 at:-
“Beedi Workers Welfare Fund Dispensary, situated at Door No.9/275-A, Anna Nagar, Near Community Marriage Hall, Alangulam-627 851, Tenkasi Dt.”, according to a press release issued by the Welfare & Cess Commissioner , Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry.
Prime Minister's Office
PM hails major milestone in Northeast Gas Grid project with construction of 24-inch diameter natural gas pipeline through HDD method under Brahmaputra River
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has hailed the major milestone in Northeast Gas Grid project with construction of 24-inch diameter natural gas pipeline through HDD method under Brahmaputra River.
Sharing a tweet by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas about setting a record for the longest hydrocarbon pipeline river crossing in Asia & the second-longest in the world, the Prime Minister tweeted:
“Exemplary!”
Prime Minister's Office
PM inaugurates India's longest bridge in Assam, addresses public meeting at Dhola
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today inaugurated India's longest bridge - the 9.15 km long Dhola-Sadiya bridge, over the River Brahmaputra, in Assam.
This was his first engagement on the third anniversary of his swearing-in as Prime Minister.
The bridge will enhance connectivity and greatly reduce travel time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
After unveiling a plaque to mark the inauguration, the Prime Minister travelled, and walked on the bridge for a few minutes.
Later, addressing a public meeting at Dhola, the Prime Minister said that the inauguration of the bridge marks the end of a long wait for the people of this area.
The Prime Minister said infrastructure is extremely important for development, and the effort of the Union Government is to fulfil the dreams and wishes of the people. He said this bridge enhances connectivity between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, and opens the door for economic development, on a big scale.
He said the eastern and north-eastern parts of the country have the greatest potential for economic development, and this bridge is just one element of the Union Government's vision in this regard.
The Prime Minister said the bridge will bring about a positive change in the lives of the common people. He said the Union Government is placing great emphasis on the development of waterways as well.
The Prime Minister said enhanced connectivity between the North-East and other parts of the country is a priority for the Union Government, and work has been greatly speeded up in this regard. He said that good connectivity in the North-East will also link the region with the economy of South-East Asia.
The Prime Minister also spoke of the immense tourism potential of the North-East. He said the Union Government has decided to name the Dhola-Sadiya bridge after the great musician, lyricist and poet, Bhupen Hazarika.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
213.52 cr Total Vaccine doses  have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
32,31,895 doses administered in last 24 hours
India's Active caseload currently stands at 53,974
Active cases stand at 0.12%
Recovery Rate currently at 98.69%
7,034 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to
4,38,80,464
5,910 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
88.73 cr Total Tests conducted so far; 2,27,313 tests conducted in the last 24 hours
Ministry of Home Affairs
Central government extends ban on LTTE for five years
The Central Government has extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam  for another five years under sub-sections  and  of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities  Act, 1967  with immediate effect. The notification in this regard was issued here today.
The notification states that the LTTE’s continued violent and disruptive activities are prejudicial to the integrity and sovereignty of India; and it continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture as also continues to pose a grave threat to the security of Indian nationals.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar addresses International Symposium on Health Technology Assessment
“Health Technology Assessment is bridging the gap between the researchers and the real world”: Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar addressed International Symposium on Health Technology Assessment, was organised by the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with International Decision Support Initiative . The theme of the event was “Translating Knowledge and Best Practices into Policy for Evidence Informed Decision making in Healthcare Sector for Universal Health Coverage”. The symposium was attended by about 500 participants, virtually or in person.
Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar remarked in her key note address that the symposium has provided a platform to discuss the global best practices in Health Technology Assessment, development of a sustainable model of evidence-based decision making through HTA institutionalization in India in order to achieve universal health coverage. Dr. Bharti Pravin Pawar said, “HTA is bridging the gap between the researchers and the real world.”
The Minister of State, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar also released video on “The Power of HTA” and two books – “Policy Briefs” and “Development of Health-Related Quality of Life Value Sets  for India”. The Policy Brief book contains all the policy briefs of the HTA studies conducted by HTAIn and approved by the Board till date. The aim of EQ5D5L study was to generate the Indian Tariff Values of all the health states that is used in the HTA studies. It is the first and the largest study of its kind in South Asia conducted by HTAIn in collaboration with its Resource Centers.
Dr V. K. Paul, Member NITI Aayog quoted that HTA is the pillar for policy formation. Later on, Dr Balram Bhargava, Secretary-DHR and Director General-ICMR stressed on the need for institutionalizing HTA in the country. Ms. Anu Nagar Joint Secretary, DHR detailed about the journey of HTA in India.
Dr. Somsak Chunharas, Advisor to the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program  and Former Deputy Minister, Public Health, Thailand; Dr. Javier Guzman, Director, Global Health Policy & Senior Policy Fellow, Centre for Global Development; Sir Andrew Dillon Chair, Life Sciences Advisory Board and Founding Chief Executive, NICE, UK; Prof. Carole Longson Life Science Adviser NICE, UK; Prof. Stephen Jan Co-Director, Health Systems Science, George Institute for Global Health, Dr. Tessa-Tan-Torres Edejer Coordinator, Unit on Costs, Effectiveness, Expenditure & Priority Setting, WHO Geneva were present among the eminent speakers.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Special Campaign 2.0-Secretary MoRTH reviews progress, directs officers to take steps in line with the spirit of the campaign
Secretary MoRTH Smt Alka Upadhyaya on Saturday held a high level meeting in hybrid mode to review of progress of “Special Campaign 2.0”, which started on 2nd October and will continue till 31st October.
Smt Upadhyaya spoke to concerned officials and directed them to take steps to dispose all pending MP references, PMO references, Public Grievances, Parliament Assurances, State Government references etc and ensure cleanliness of the office premises, toll plazas etc, in line with the spirit of the campaign, by target date 31st October, 2022.
As part of the “Special Campaign 2.0”, the Ministry has been carrying out various activities across the country – from disposing of pending files to maintaining cleanliness at field offices of MoRTH, NHAI, NHIDCL, IRC and IAHE. The Ministry is also taking special measures to ensure that the National Highway stretches are pothole-free, for the convenience of the highway users.
Under the campaign, till 29 October, 553 out of 694 MP references, 993 out of 1,049 Public Grievances, 12 out of 16 PMO references, 26 out of 28 State Government references have been disposed of while 7,060 physical files, which were identified for weeding, have been weeded out so far. Cleanliness campaigns have been carried out at 2,466 locations, which include toll plazas, Regional Offices & PIU/PMUs of MoRTH/NHAI/NHIDCL. The Ministry has earned Rs 7.07 lakh by disposing scrap during the campaign. As much as 1,936 sq ft space has been freed after the scraps were disposed.
Besides the Secretary, the review meeting was attended by Additional Secretary  Shri Amit Kumar Ghosh, JS  and Nodal Officer Shri Kamlesh Chaturvedi, JS  Shri S.P. Singh and other senior officials of MoRTH and NHAI. Field officers of MoRTH/NHAI/NHIDCL joined the review meeting through VC.
Prime Minister's Office
India-Netherlands Virtual Summit
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and H.E Mr. Mark Rutte,Prime Minister of the Netherlands held a Virtual Summit today. It was the first high level Summit attended by PM Rutte after the general elections held in March 2021. Prime Minister Modi congratulated PM Rutte on his election victory and on becoming the Prime Minister of the Netherlands for the fourth consecutive term.
India and the Netherlands have a strong and steady relationship, nurtured by the shared values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights and the historic bonds of friendship between the two countries.
During the Summit, the two leaders had a detailed review of the entire spectrum of bilateral engagements and exchanged views on further expanding and diversifying the relationship in trade and economy, water management, agriculture sector, smart cities, science & technology, healthcare and space.
The two Prime Ministers also agreed on instituting a ‘Strategic Partnership on Water’ to further deepen the Indo-Dutch cooperation in the water related sector, and upgrading the Joint Working Group on water to Ministerial-level.
The leaders also exchanged views on regional and global challenges such as climate change, counter-terrorism and Covid-19 pandemic and agreed to leverage the emerging convergences in new areas like Indo-Pacific, Resilient Supply Chains and Global Digital Governance.
Prime Minister Modi thanked the Netherlands for their support to International Solar Alliance  and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure . PM Modi also welcomed the Netherlands’ Indo-Pacific Policy and its desire to collaborate during India’s G20 Presidency in 2023.
The two leaders reiterated their commitment to a rules-based multilateral order for ensuring international peace, stability and prosperity and looked forward to a successful India-EU Leaders’ Meeting in Porto, Portugal in May 2021.
Prime Minister's Office
PM pays tribute to Dr. Rajendra Prasad on his Jayanti
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, on his Jayanti.
“Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad became an active part of India’s freedom struggle. He participated in grass root level movements such as the non-cooperation movement and provided great leadership to the Constituent Assembly as its President.
As the first President of India, his leadership and guidance was extremely valuable for our nation during the formative years.
Generations of Indians are inspired by Dr. Rajendra Prasad’s distinguished service”, the Prime Minister said.
Department of Space
The process of Astronaut selection for the Gaganyaan mission is completed :ISRO Chairman
Chandrayaan-3 mission to the moon, comprising a lander and a rover is approved by the Government
The Chairman Indian Space Research Organisation  Dr K Sivan briefed media at a Press Meet organised at ISRO Headquarters, Bengaluru today. During the Press Meet, Dr Sivan outlined ISRO’s achievements during the last one year and also the plans to be accomplished during the current year.
During 2019, six launch vehicle and seven satellite missions were realised by ISRO. The year also marked the 50th launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle . Dr Sivan said that two new variants of the PSLV were introduced. For the first time, the spent fourth stage of the PSLV was successfully demonstrated as an experimental orbital platform. Indigenously developed Vikram processor by Semi-Conductor Laboratory was flight tested during the year. International mobile standards body 3rd Generation Partnership Project  approved India’s regional navigation satellite system NavIC which would facilitate NavIC’s use in mobile phones.
On the capacity building front, a second launch port, exclusively for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle , is planned to be established in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu. “Land acquisition activities are presently in progress”, said Dr. Sivan. A second Vehicle Assembly Building in SDSC SHAR Sriharikota was dedicated to the nation during the year for increasing the launch frequency. As part of the enhanced outreach activity, a launch viewing gallery was operationalised in Sriharikota to facilitate viewing of launches live by the public.
In an effort towards horizontal expansion of ISRO, Space Technology Cells, Space Technology Incubation Centres andRegional Academic Centres for Space were established during the year and many more such centres are planned in the future. A special programme for school children called “YuvaVIgyaniKAryakram "aimed at imparting basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications was also introduced during the last year.
To carry forward the industry production of space systems, ISRO incorporated New Space India Limited , under the Department of Space and efforts in realising PSLVs from industry initiated.
Pertaining to future programmes, Dr Sivan said Chandrayaan-3 mission to the moon, comprising a lander and a rover is approved by the Government and activities for its realisation are in progress.
Talking about India’s first human space flight mission Gaganyaan, Dr. Sivan said “We’ve made good progress in the mission. The process of Astronaut selection for the mission is completed”. He further added that four astronauts have been selected, who will undergo extensive training.
Other projects during the year include SSLV, GSLV with 4m ogive payload fairing, GSAT-20 satellite, NavIC with indigenous atomic clocks, Indian Data Relay Satellite System, Aditya-L1 and XPOSAT.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
CAQM focused on shifting of industries to PNG/ cleaner fuels and use of coal stands completely banned in the entire NCR
Coal India Limited  and State Governments of Haryana and U.P. advised to ensure coal is not allotted to suppliers of ClL operating in NCR
Flying Squad of CAQM conducting incognito inspections to ensure strict compliance on use of only approved fuels
21 Industrial units found using highly polluting unapproved fuels issued closure directions by CAQM
Compliance to the Statutory Directions of CAQM satisfactory with only 02 units found using heavily polluting fuels since 01.01.2023
Continuing its concerted efforts to abate air pollution arising out of emissions from highly polluting fossil fuels like coal, furnace oil, etc., the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining Areas  has advised Coal India Limited  and State Governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh , to ensure that coal is not supplied/ allotted by various coal companies of CIL to various suppliers/ stockists/ agents of ClL operating in the National Capital Region . Moreover, the Commission has also advised the entities/ units/ industries including stockists, traders and dealers of coal to ensure compliance and discontinue coal supply in NCR for any kind of usage/ stocking/ selling/ trading in entire NCR except for Thermal Power Plants . Statutory directions of the Commission require complete elimination of use of coal and other unapproved fuels for various operations/ applications across all sectors , w.e.f. 01st January, 2023 in the entire NCR.
Statutory directions were issued by the Commission regarding permissible fuels for industrial/ domestic/ miscellaneous applications in the NCR in terms of Direction Nos. 64 dated 02.06.2022 and 65 dated 23.06.2022. Presently, use of coal now stands completely banned  and it is not considered a permissible fuel within NCR as per the common fuel list under the Directions issued by the Commission.
In compliance of the Commission’s directions, 84 industrial units across NCR areas of Haryana, U.P. & Rajasthan which were hitherto not using approved fuels, closed down their operations temporarily/ permanently on their own. Since last 3 months w.e.f. 01.10.2022, only 21 industrial units were found using highly polluting unapproved fuels like coal, furnace oil, etc. and those units have been closed pursuant to CAQM closure directions. Beyond 01.01.2023, the compliance has further improved and only 02 units were found using such heavily polluting fuels during inspection, thus indicating satisfactory compliance of Statutory Directions of the Commission.
The Flying Squad of the Commission will continue conducting incognito inspections to ensure strict compliance on use of only approved fuels in the entire NCR.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal meets CEOs of leading companies of UAE, discusses their investment plans in India
Shri Goyal interacts with leading food sector companies in the GCC region and Egypt
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal met with CEOs of leading UAE companies Emaar, Sharaf and DP World in Dubai today and discussed their investment plans in India. He assured them of Government of India’s commitment to facilitate UAE investments into India.
Shri Goyal is on his third visit to the UAE as Minister of Commerce and Industry in the last 2 years. This highlights the importance that India attaches to its economic and commercial partnership with the UAE.
Earlier today, Shri Goyal interacted with leading food sector companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council  region and Egypt. Given India’s pre-eminent role as the food security partner in the region, the meeting focussed on ways to promote greater trade and investments in the food sector between India and the GCC countries. Shri Goyal’s interaction also provided a platform for the industry representatives to share their insights and perspectives on building robust food sector cooperation between India and the region.
The Minister also met with leading Indian Chartered Accountants  based in the UAE. The interaction focussed on enhancing the India-UAE relationship. The Minister encouraged the CA community to contribute to the ‘Amrit Kaal’ of India.
The Minister posted on X:
Ministry of Culture
Sangeet Natak Akademi launches second phase of the Web Campaign ‘SĀNJHI –MUJH MEIN KALĀKĀR’
Sangeet Natak Akademi  the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama will launched the second phase of the Web Campaign ‘SĀNJHI –MUJH MEIN KALĀKĀR’ an initiative to document and promote the Intangible Cultural Heritage  and diverse cultural traditions of the country by direct public-participation.
This is a unique talent search where the participant will showcase their talent in the fields of music, dance, drama, puppetry, folk and tribal arts, culinary skills, painting, sculpture etc. The literal meaning of the term SĀNJHI is “to share” and “to partner”, and the cultural traditions of our country has developed and prospered on the notions of harmony.
The second phase of this campaign, SĀNJHI –MUJH MEIN KALĀKĀR, has its main focus area- the folk, traditional, customary, socially events and ritualistic art forms- woven as a cultural fabric around the harvest festival season of January. It is celebrated all across the country, known as various nomenclatures like Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri, Bhogali Bihu, Torgya, Uttarayan, Attukkal Pongal etc.
It intends to bring forth such forms that are aligned with the domains of intangible cultural heritage as per the Convention of Safeguarding the ICH under UNESCO:
· Oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage;
· Performing arts;
· Social practices, rituals and festive events;
· Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
· Traditional craftsmanship
The first phase of this campaign was earlier initiated in the month of November 2018 during the festival season of Diwali. There was mass participation and with great enthusiasm, people uploaded various audios and videos for music, dance, poetry recitation etc. and images for visual art forms like painting, craftwork, terracotta work, rangoli, written poetry, etc. More than 500 entries were received from various regions of the country. A Screening Committee, constituting of various Cultural Bodies and eminent artists availed the opportunity to witness the talent reservoir of the country and considered many as worthy for further promotion and commendation.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi  is the nodal agency of the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India to coordinate the matters related to Intangible Cultural Heritage and various UNESCO Conventions addressing Cultural Diversity and promotion and dissemination of multifarious cultural traditions and expressions of the country.
The participants may log into the official website of Sangeet Natak Akademi  and click on the link to SĀNJHI –MUJH MEIN KALĀKĀR,for more information. The portal for upload will be active during the period 12-31 January 2019